Blood Stains
by DocWinters
Summary: Jasmine Ruthbridge is your normal everyday Chicago Paramedic; trying to earn enough to get the hell of of Chicago, she doesn't believe in the stories of demons and monsters, but little does she know that she will be thrust right into the middle of a blood feud between Vampires and Werewolves that has raged for over two million years


A/N: My first attempt at this genre, but please Read and Review :)

Blood Stains

1.

There was once a time when Chicago was a prosperous city, vibrant with life and a pulse all its own; that was, of course, until the war came. For over a millennia, human civilisation had thrived and developed, completely oblivious to the affairs of what happened when they went to sleep. While humanity ruled unopposed during the daylight hours, the Great Darkness raged during the twilight, the supernatural war between werewolves and their former vampiric overlords. This separation existed until the course of Human development forced its way into the realm of the supernatural, forcing the collective human awareness to accept what they previously believed to be simply stories. Humanity continued to attempt to deny the existence of the unexplained despite the increasing disappearances; but it is impossible to hide the now-vacant streets that line the city at night; for some, however, that denial was unavoidable…

Jasmine Ruthbridge hated night shift, it was one of those things she dreaded about her job as a paramedic; it wasn't the threat of violence from make-believe monsters that seemed to propagate the media, it was the brain-numbing boredom of twelve-hour shifts. People just stayed indoors at night unless they had no other choice; a city that once possessed a vibrant nightlife now simply shut down at dusk. The only reason she continued to endure the torture of night shift was so that she could save up enough money to get out of Chicago, to escape the paranoia of a city gone mad.

Reclining languidly on one of the station's sofas, her boots casually propped up on the arm at the other end, she was casually watching the small television across the room; shifting her gaze she looked over to the large clock that hung on the far wall, she groaned as she realised that her shift wasn't even halfway over. Her disappointed tone caught the attention of the nearby small assortment of the station's engine and rescue squad team members sitting at one of the two large meal tables playing cards. The remaining team members were scattered throughout the stationhouse occupying their time by sleeping, eating or participating in inter-team competitions. They were likewise sentenced to a mind numbing twelve-hour shift but were making the most of it as the stack of poker chips that sat at the centre of the table attested while their colleagues occupied themselves throughout the rest of the station. They looked over to the only female in the station before their gaze fell on her partner sitting at the end of the table with the smallest stack of chips. "I think your partner needs some attention," one of the Rescue Squad members commented while the others made immature lewd gestures.

"Jazz, you alright?" Tobias McClaskey, the other paramedic, commented sheepishly, before sinking lower into the chair as the other participants of the game continued their jokes while they kept at their game.

Jasmine stood up, running a hand through her below shoulder-length brown hair, she nodded before moving over to the communal kitchen area; her black uniform pants clung to her curvaceous thighs and toned legs like a force of nature. Her black figure-hugging undershirt wrestled to contain a generous forty-inch bust and a toned stomach that still managed to maintain natural feminine curves. Her breasts were her most noticeable feature, probably second only to her equal-sized hips. Her physical attributes had always garnered admirers and courtiers, but also had a tendency of getting in the way of her duties. Entering the kitchen area, Jasmine opened the fridge, removing a bottle of Coke; twisting the top of the bottle as she nudged the fridge door closed with her hip shimmying in imitation of an Arabian belly dancer, which, due to her smooth olive skin, wasn't a far approximation.

"Just wondering what I'm supposed to do for the next eight hours, all the TV's showing is infomercials; I wish the Chief would get more than basic cable," she remarked before taking a swig from the bottle as she leant against the sink.  
"That would require the Chief to actively do something to make this station bearable," one of the engine crew commented, causing the others to laugh, before throwing a handful of chips in the centre. Jasmine shrugged before returning to the sofa and trawling through the pile of magazines that littered the coffee table, sighing at the fact that she was the sole woman on the shift and all the magazines were dedicated to either sports, guns, cars, or large-breasted women in varying states of undress. Rolling her eyes, Jasmine picked up the nearest magazine and flicked through its pages, wondering how men could consider these heavily photo shopped women with fake bodies attractive.

Before she could become engrossed in the small token articles that were spaced between heaving bosoms, the station alarm triggered. "Engine 26, Truck 7, Ambulance 45, townhouse fire, 3627 North Magnolia Street," came over the station's intercom. The card players groaned at the untimely interruption before dropping their cards and standing, they stole a moment to look over each other's cards, which increased the pitch of the groan.

Matthew Hutchinson, the Engine Crew Lieutenant, turned to the assortment of fire-fighters that had gathered in the break room in preparation to moving out to the garage in their assembled teams. "Remember, everyone, Night Protocols are in effect, keep an eye out, that part of town is heavily populated." They nodded grimly; they all knew what night protocols meant.  
"Are we going to have any backup for this one?" Tobias asked, collecting a trauma kit from a nearby locker and loading it into the back of the ambulance.

"What's the matter, Tobias, scared the bogeyman will come and get you?" one of the rescue team commented dryly as Jasmine moved into the locker room to collect the rest of her equipment, excluding her from the rest of the conversation. Opening her locker, she collected her black uniform jacket; slipping it on she reached once more into the locker, removing a bulky equipment vest. The reason for the bulk was due to the succession of reinforced ribbed panels on the front and back, and a thick stiffened neck guard. She hated wearing it, it was uncomfortable and restrictive, not to mention unflattering. "All this because of some sadistic freaks and supposed satanic ritualism," she muttered to herself as she left the room.

Entering the garage, she approached the white Chicago Fire Department Ambulance parked alongside a pair of black-and-red fire engines, a general-purpose engine and a rescue tanker; climbing into the cabin she dropped her vest behind her seat and belted up. Looking over to her partner studying a clipboard, she asked, "You ready?"

Tobias nodded, slipping his seatbelt over his shoulder and securing it in place. Jasmine turned over the engine, activating the ambulance's light bar as the vehicle pulled out of the garage following the rescue van and general-purpose fire engine. The three vehicles raced down empty streets in convoy.

As the vehicles sped towards the fire that was gradually starting to poke through the cityscape, Jasmine looked over to her partner sitting uncomfortably in his equipment vest. This wasn't her normal partner, her usual partner Jacob had developed food poisoning from a recent station chili cook-off and Tobias had been called up to take his place. "You haven't done a night shift before, have you, kid?" she asked, merging onto the I-90 Interstate several miles faster than the posted speed limit following the two fire engines in front of her. While Jasmine was the senior paramedic, making it actually Tobias' job to drive the ambulance, it was one of the few luxuries that Jasmine had in her life working nights that she enjoyed; that, and the fact that she didn't yet trust this rookie to have the wheel.

"Nope, they don't get probies working nights until our second year, well, normally anyway. I just happened to be the only EMT on the roster that didn't have something better to do," he replied, pulling at the tabs on his shoulders, trying to get comfortable as each bump and turn caused the vest to shift uncomfortably.

Jasmine shook her head as the fire started to become more visible, intermittent flashes of red and blue signalling that the Police Response Unit was already on the scene, roping off the street and keeping unnecessary onlookers away.

"Well if you want to work nights again, don't bring up the rumours; there are no monsters, they simply don't exist, and if you don't have the balls to deal with the antics of nutjobs then you shouldn't be in the department," she snapped as the small convoy of vehicles came to a stop outside a row of white townhouses, one of which was well alight. She looked over to her partner to see him shrinking into his vest, his expression clearly showing that what she had said had upset him. "Now is not the time for that, Tobias, we have a job to do!" she said brusquely before grabbing the receiver of the vehicle's two-way radio and spoke into it, "Ambulance 45 arrived on scene." Once she received confirmation from dispatch she opened the driver's door and slipped out of the vehicle, reaching behind her seat for her vest. Donning the cumbersome garment she closed the driver's door with a thud and moved to the rear of the vehicle, noticing that Tobias was already there, opening it to retrieve a trauma kit while struggling to settle his own vest. "Final piece of advice, Tobias, don't wear the vest when you're in the bus, otherwise you'll be fidgeting with it forever."

Tobias cast his gaze downwards again and mumbled something akin to an apology. The Duty Commander approached the vehicle, his fluorescent vest reflecting the pulses of light from nearly a dozen different light bars, when he arrived he placed a hand against the open door of the ambulance while the fire crews went to work combating the blaze in front of them.

"We don't have any casualties yet, it seems the fire started in an upstairs bedroom in that townhouse and spread from there; we've been lucky and have been able to contain it to this building, but stand by unless the situation changes," the duty commander reported before turning back to see the fire crew entering the building as it sat on the corner of the block.

"Understood, sir, we'll set up here," Jasmine replied, looking over to Tobias, and prodding him in the shoulder to start preparing a triage post at the rear of the vehicle. The Duty Commander looked over at the probationary paramedic and shook his head in sympathy before heading towards the commander's vehicle to liaise back with the dispatch. Rolling her eyes, the paramedic joined her colleague at the rear of the ambulance.

Jasmine took a moment to look out at the scene around her. Despite the fact that there was a townhouse on fire there were surprisingly few bystanders looking on; even people in surrounding houses stayed indoors, favouring to watch through barred windows. Shrugging, the paramedic took a seat against the rear fender of the ambulance, awkwardly crossing her arms as she watched the fire crews go to work. As she sat, she did her best to ignore the movements of her partner as he pottered around in the back of the vehicle.

As the fire crew continued to battle the inferno, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye which caused Jasmine to look towards a gangway a short distance from the building. Something appeared to be shuffling away from the scene of the blaze. The light created by the burning building and the half dozen emergency vehicles allowed her to see that this figure was humanoid, and limping severely. Rising to her feet, the paramedic reached in and removed a 'jump bag' trauma kit from a shelf in the ambulance and started towards the individual to investigate. "Tobias, hold the fort, I think I saw something," she commented, not waiting to see if the probationary paramedic had heard her as she slipped the straps over her shoulder and headed off. Grabbing her Motorola two-way radio and clipping the speaker microphone to a loop on her vest she pressed the mic. button.  
"2-4-9 to 4-5-7, leaving ambulance to investigate a possible casualty, 3-2-4 is still at the vehicle."  
"Confirmed, 2-4-9, standby, uniforms are en-route to your location for backup," the duty commander replied.

"4-5-7, backup really isn't required, chances are there isn't anything there," she commented, rolling her eyes at the notion of an escort.  
"Understood, 2-4-9, maintain radio contact and stay safe, 4-5-7 out."

Walking away from the ambulance, Jasmine continued down the direction she was convinced her mystery person had gone, even if she wasn't completely sure that there was anyone there. She looked down and noticed a faint trail of blood reflecting nearby emergency beacons. She removed her Maglite flashlight from its belt loop and began to pan the surrounding area following the blood trail. Unaware of the distance she had travelled, a faint murmuring caused the paramedic to look behind a dumpster at the rear of a nearby building to find a man slumped against it, his features highlighted by a single bank of security lights installed on the corner giving enough light to make him out. One hand was trying hopelessly to stem the course of bleeding from a number of jagged tears, making it look as though he had been mauled by some kind of wild animal; the other was holding onto the wall behind him. His dark clothing was soaked in blood from his various injuries, the blood loss draining the colour from his complexion.

"Shit," Jasmine muttered, dropping the jump bag and her flashlight and slipped on a pair of non-sterile gloves from a pouch on her belt and knelt beside the man. Removing a Hudson mask from the resuscitation kit inside the bag and connecting it to the oxygen bottle in the bottom of the bag, she placed it over the man's mouth and nose, turning the dial on the regulator to deliver oxygen. She then opened the main compartment of the kit and shuffled through pockets and flaps looking for appropriate sized bandages and analgesics to start treating the man's wounds. Irritated at the layout of the kit and being unable to find what she was looking for, she drew her penlight and checked the tag on the bag's handle, "Who the hell is Rodriguez?" Cursing, she dropped her light and drew the largest dressing pad she could find to start stemming the course of bleeding while manipulating her two-way radio with her free hand. "This is 2-4-9 to 3-2-4; I've found someone: male, mid-thirties, he looks like he's been mauled by a bear or something, looks unrelated to the fire. Also where the hell is my ALS bag?"

There was a brief pause before Tobias replied, "Um, the stationhouse I think, 'cause I don't see it in the vehicle." Jasmine swore off channel as she attempted to do her best to apply pressure to her patient's larger wounds.  
"Then bring me a drug bag and the stretcher. I went down the gangway near the townhouse, beside a dumpster, I'm not sure how far down I've gone but this guy doesn't look in great shape so get the lead out."

"I'm on my way, 3-2-4 out."

Sighing, Jasmine pressed the talk button again on the two-way. "2-4-9 to 4-5-7, sir, I've found a patient unrelated to the fire, male mid-thirties, multiple deep lacerations down the gangway alongside the townhouse row. Once 3-2-4 arrives at my location I will be extracting him back to the bus, he'll need a pickup; it's an urgent case."

The radio crackled to life with the Duty Commander, "Understood, 2-4-9, assistance will be on site by the time you arrive, 4-5-7 out."

"Rookies," Jasmine muttered to herself as she wrapped a bandage around her patient's torso to secure the dressing before picking up her penlight to inspect some of the smaller wounds now that she had more or less gotten the major bleeding under control. "What the hell did this to you?" she wondered as her patient faded in and out of consciousness. He would occasionally mutter incoherently but otherwise did very little as she attempted to work on his wounds wishing she had more effective equipment to do her job.

Jasmine reached into the jump bag and withdrew a smaller cannula kit and an IV line; rolling up her patient's sleeve she attached the blue tourniquet from the kit just below his biceps. She then ran a swab across the inside of his forearm before priming the IV line from the 1000mL bag of saline and hung it from an anchor point on the nearby dumpster. She placed the penlight between her teeth as she prepped the site before inserting the needle into a palpated vein. Holding the cannula in one hand, she paused when she noticed that the blood filling the cannula's reservoir was not the normal dull red she expected from venous, deoxygenated blood, but a dark red more commonly seen with congealed blood.

"Well that's not normal," she pondered, raising an eyebrow before removing the tourniquet and the insertion needle and connecting the IV line. She opened the slide wheel allowing the fluid to flow down the line into the cannula.

Taking observations on her patient she looked over her shoulder and wondered where her partner was. Standing, she removed the penlight from her mouth and manipulated her two-way. "2-4-9 to 3-2-4, what's your location?" her question was met with silence. "3-2-4 this is 2-4-9, radio check?" Again nothing. "2-4-9 to 4-5-7, radio check?"

"2-4-9, you're coming through clear, are you receiving?" the duty commander replied. "Is there a problem?"

"4-5-7, all clear, but I can't get in contact with 3-2-4, I haven't seen him and this guy needs extraction." Jasmine looked down at her patient and frowned as blood started to seep through the bandages.

"I see, 2-4-9, hold tight, I'll sort something out." She heard the faint click of the Commander switching to the local frequency instead of the dedicated paramedic one. "4-5-7 to all personnel, be on the lookout for EMT McClaskey, he was last seen near Ambulance 45 heading towards the gangway alongside the townhouses. He's not responding to comms so it's possible he could have technical or other issues. Report back to central dispatch if you see him; 4-5-7 out."

As the radio reported acknowledgements from the engine and rescue crews, Jasmine shook her head and returned to her patient.  
"Damn it, Tobias, where the hell are you?" she asked, taking her patient's observations again and recording them on a notepad from her pocket while she checked the patency of the cannula and the bandages to make sure they were still doing their job. A noise behind her brought her attention away from her patient. "Tobias, where the hell have you been, this guy needs to get out of here?" she demanded while placing a hand on the large abdominal bandage, checking to make sure that its integrity was intact before moving on to the oxygen tank to ensure that it was still supplying her patient with oxygen. Her comments went unanswered.

A low guttural snarl behind her caused her to turn sharply; the light from the alley seemed to be absorbed by the night around her, but she was able to make out a faint silhouette. The figure was hulked over but it was obvious that it was easily taller than her by at least a foot; its long arms appeared to reach the ground unnaturally as it approached.  
While Jasmine normally felt her heart race when she responded to a call, adrenaline giving her a buzz she almost craved, her heart was racing now for a completely different reason. An unaccustomed chill ran down her spine as she backed away from the figure, putting herself between it and her patient, casting a quick glance around trying to assess the situation. Her training instructed her that if she was threatened the trauma kit was a good improvised weapon; however, in this situation that was not an option as it was currently attached to her patient. Reaching for the belt loop she realised that she had dropped her flashlight when she arrived on scene.

"Shit," she breathed, furiously looking around to see where it had rolled to as the figure drew closer.

In the back of her mind, she was cursing Tobias for not responding to her summons and probably getting lost, and that Jacob would never have been so careless to get into a situation like this and that if she survived all this that she was going to punish Tobias severely.  
Stealing a moment to look down she saw the light from her Maglite emanating from under the dumpster and slowly lowered herself to a crouch, keeping her gaze locked on the figure, blindly groping beneath her for her flashlight. Once her fingers took purchase of the device she stood once more holding the device like a baton.

The creature did not appear perturbed by this move, snarling mockingly as it continued to approach her; however, a crash nearby diverted both its attention and hers as a trashcan was knocked over, spilling its contents across the gangway; a stray cat emerged from the wreckage mewing loudly as it pawed through the garbage looking for food completely ignorant of the situation occurring around it.

Shrugging, Jasmine turned back towards the figure fully expecting to be the next day's front page article, picturing the headline as she did so: "Paramedic killed in bizarre satanic ritual attack defending patient because partner was too dumb to follow instructions…" She stopped mid thought when she realised that the figure that had been stalking her was gone. Flicking on the flashlight she slowly panned it around her, making sure that the area was secure before turning back to check on her patient.

"You have got to be kidding me!" she cursed uncomprehendingly, looking down to find that her patient had also vanished. Looking around she saw the IV bag still hanging from the dumpster, the end of the line dragging through the pool of brownish-red blood that marked the spot where her patient had been slumped. The oxygen mask was still attached to the O2 canister which continued to deliver oxygen despite the fact that there was no patient. Shaking her head she bent down to shut off the regulator before noticing that the main section of the kit had been rifled through and a number of bandages had been removed. Policing her equipment she slung the jump bag over her shoulder and reached for her two-way to inform the site commander what had happened.

"1-1-7 to 2-4-9, Jazz, get back here, we've found Tobias," blared over her radio as she was about to press the mic. button. 1-1-7 was the call sign of Lieutenant Hutchinson, the engine crew's lieutenant; normally he was calm and collected over the radio, but judging by his tone and complete disregard of communications protocols, something bad must have happened. Jasmine could feel the blood leaving her cheeks.  
Taking a breath she pressed the button. "Understood, 1-1-7, what is your location, over?" she replied making sure that she hadn't left anything behind before briskly heading towards the flashing emergency beacons, her recent encounter completely absent from her mind. She had to resist the urge to run as the weight of the equipment she was carrying threw off her centre of gravity forcing her to lean in the opposite direction as she walked to compensate.

"2-4-9, we're just off the entrance to the gangway, there is a laneway about ten feet from the street, 4-5-7; we have a situation requiring your attention at my location, over."  
Jasmine did not like the direction the radio conversation was going and gradually turned down the volume on her two-way. She had a fair idea what was going on as she could see three members of the engine crew standing at the laneway; one was shining a large handheld flashlight down the laneway while the other two were facing opposite directions as if they were waiting for her. When one noticed her approach he jogged towards her, holding his hands up for her to stop.

"Sean, what's going on?" she asked, instinctually removing a fresh set of gloves from a pouch on her vest. "Where's Tobias?"

Firefighter Sean Watson looked away towards the laneway before meeting her gaze. "When the Commander put the call out to look for him we all thought that he had just gotten lost. When Tony exited the townhouse to clean his visor, he found your stretcher toppled over in the gangway, it wasn't long after that that we found Tobias…" He looked over his shoulder to see another engine crew member, Tony Alveraz, sitting on the back step of Engine 26, with a blanket around his shoulders; his face pale looked as if he had seen something horrific.

Jasmine stepped around Sean and into the laneway, immediately noticing the fluorescent '**Lieutenant**' nameplate on the back of the jacket of one of the engine crew who crouched over something being illuminated by the other fire-fighter. It didn't take Jasmine long to realise that he was crouched over Tobias; however, he didn't appear to be treating any injuries the man may have suffered or talking to him, he just sat crouched beside him. The engine lieutenant looked up when her shadow was cast over the scene and he stood, blocking her field of vision. "Jazz, you shouldn't be here, you'll contaminate things," he muttered; the front of his jacket had patches of blood on it as he looked past her towards someone who was standing behind her.

"Paramedic Ruthbridge, please take a step away from your partner, I'd like you to return to your vehicle, we need to debrief you," the Duty Commander commented from behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Jasmine didn't feel his hand as her vest was between them. She turned around to face the Duty Commander as a second ambulance, Ambulance 84, pulled up to the scene; a pair of police officers from the Response Unit had also arrived and started marking out the scene with yellow police tape. Jasmine nodded slowly before she moved away from the gangway and returned to the ambulance, dropping the jump bag in the back and sitting on the step.

She hadn't met Tobias before this evening as he had only been assigned to the stationhouse after the cook-off since passing candidate EMT status the month before, but she still felt bad for the way things turned out. She had spent the entire shift telling him off; her last thoughts before finding out what had happened related to how she was going to punish him for getting lost, and now he was dead. Placing her head in her hands she took a slow, deep breath and shuddered as the adrenaline from both her encounter and the current situation started to subside.

"It's one of those nights, eh?" the Duty Commander commented. Jasmine hadn't even registered his approach to her. Raising her head, she looked up at him, smiling weakly, her eyes clouded.

She nodded dumbly before reaching into the back of the ambulance for her water bottle and opening it, taking sips in between washing her hands. It took her a moment to realise that she was still wearing gloves. Shaking her head she removed the unused gloves and dropping them on the floor.

The commander frowned, placing a hand against the open door beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked gently, trying to get Jasmine's mind focused but unsure whether she had even heard him.

"He disappeared," she muttered, catching the commander off guard; he returned her gaze with a confused expression. "My patient, he disappeared. While I was waiting for Tobi- EMT McClaskey to arrive with the stretcher, a large animal, - a dog or something - probably the one that attacked him in the first place, started sniffing around the scene. I was distracted for like a second as I tried to scare it off but when I turned back to him, he had vanished."

The duty commander frowned once more, "You said he wasn't in a good state to begin with, and you have no idea where he could have gone, or if there was anyone else around who could have helped him?" Jasmine returned his expression before shaking her head. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

Jasmine looked up at the commander, now wearing a defeated expression. "It's not every day that you lose both your patient and your partner within the space of an hour of each other, do you, so you tell me," she remarked with an edge.

Ignoring the flippancy of the remark, the commander took a seat on the step beside her. "Things happen, things that we can't control, tonight has been one of those times..." The sound of a vehicle approaching caused the two to look up, noticing a black-and-red SUV pull up to the scene, its light bar flashing periodically, a white number four decal on the driver's door marking this vehicle as belonging to her Battalion Chief.

Three people emerged from the SUV, the white-shirted battalion chief and two additional paramedics, who judging by their dishevelled appearance, looked like they had just been woken up.

"We need to know the location of where you found your patient so that the CSU can mark it out as a potential crime scene. While you said that there isn't any connection between him and the fire, it's up to the investigators to make that determination," the Commander remarked as the new paramedic crew removed equipment from the rear of the SUV.  
Jasmine turned and pointed down the gangway. "That way, past a dumpster, under a security light; you shouldn't be able to miss it, there is quite a bit of blood," she replied before registering the presence of the new paramedics, realising they were there to replace her.

"What are they doing here?" she asked as the trio approached the ambulance. The chief wore a concerned expression before stopping a respectable distance away from the ambulance as the two replacement paramedics continued on, placing their kits in the rear of the vehicle beside Jasmine. The replacements looked at Jasmine with sympathetic gazes before moving away to give her space.

"Protocol, you know that, Miss Ruthbridge, you are on forty-eight hour stand-down until you are debriefed by someone from bereavement services," the Duty Commander reported before standing to confer with the Battalion Chief. Jasmine looked around briefly; noticing that more police had entered the gangway.

A pair of police officers approached the ambulance, standing a short distance away. "Paramedic Ruthbridge, we need you to surrender your uniform and any equipment you used so we can use any DNA on them to identify just who your patient was as they may have something to do with the fire."

Jasmine nodded absently before handing them the waste bag that contained all the equipment she had used to treat her now-missing patient. The officers smiled at her sympathetically before placing the waste bag within sealed paper bags to preserve any evidence.

"Why do you need my uniform?" she asked before standing and, catching her reflection in a metallic door panel, noticing the blood on her pants legs, vest and boots. "Ah, that's why."

She stood, holding her arms out at her sides as one of the officers took photos of her in her uniform to chronicle the location of the blood splatters. She then unclasped her utility vest, letting the officers remove it from her before they took additional photos of both the bloodstained vest and Jasmine in the rest of her uniform. Untying her boots she showed the soles to the officers who nodded that they too had to be collected before taking additional photos. Unclasping her equipment belt she dropped it in the back of the ambulance before unzipping her pants, and stepping out of them and handing them also to the officer who placed them in another brown bag. Standing in only her black uniform jacket and black lace boy leg panties, she placed her hands on her hips. "Is there anything else you need?" she asked, shivering slightly as a faint April breeze nipped at her bare legs. The two officers stood stunned for a moment; they weren't expecting the curvaceous brunette to disrobe in the street.

"Um, no, we're good here, but if we need anything we'll be in touch," one of the officers said before grabbing the arm of this colleague who was discombobulated by the sight of a half-naked paramedic.

Jasmine shook her head before sitting down again on the rear step of the ambulance, immediately regretting it as her bare skin came into contact with the cold steel causing her to shiver once more. Wrapping her arms around her chest in an attempt to warm herself she wondered if the officers were going to collect the stretcher which was still in the gangway or make the replacement paramedic crew retrieve it.

Looking up she saw the Battalion Chief approaching, holding a small duffel bag in one hand. As he got closer she could see that his expression was the same one everyone else who approached her had had. He handed her the bag and said, "That's a spare uniform from the Rescue Truck, I doubt that it will fit, but it will keep you warm." Jasmine stood and accepted the duffel, withdrawing the standard-issue trousers and putting them on. As the chief had said the uniform was too big so she did her best to secure it using her thick equipment belt. "Come on I'll take you back to your place."

Jasmine nodded before collecting her clipboard from the front of the ambulance, and re-joining the chief, the two of them walked to his SUV. Opening the vehicle's rear door, Jasmine put her gear in the back seat of the truck before climbing in the passenger seat.

The Chief climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine once they had their seatbelts on and Jasmine seemed settled. Reversing, the Battalion Chief pulled away from the townhouse, which was just smouldering, and proceeded towards her apartment, driving down uncustomarily empty streets. It was hard to remember that Chicago used to be a city with a thriving nightlife, when to all intents and purposes, the town appeared deserted.

The SUV pulled up to her apartment building and came to a stop. "I think the best thing for you right now is to get some sleep; someone from bereavement services will be in contact with you in the next couple of days, but until then you are off duty. Remember you're not alone in this; we are all in this together so if you need to talk to someone, it can be arranged. Don't worry about your car, I'll have someone drive it here at shift change, now get some sleep, you've had a rough day."

Jasmine unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door; collecting her gear from the back seat she returned to the still open passenger door and removed her keys from a zippered pocket in her pants, detaching her car keys from the ring and handing them to the chief. "Thanks, Chief, I appreciate it," she replied before closing the door and standing on the kerb until the SUV pulled away. Turning, she entered her building and climbed the stairs to her apartment.

Shutting the door behind her, Jasmine rested her head against it as she dropped her bag. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath before locking the door. Moving further into her apartment she discarded her equipment belt on the arm of the couch and let the oversized rescue pants slide to the floor. Stepping out of the heavy, bulky garment she walked to the bathroom, removing her uniform jacket mid-step and likewise dropping it to the floor, quickly followed by her figure-hugging undershirt. Entering the bathroom she unhooked her black bra and placed it on the edge of the basin, before sliding her panties down her legs and removing her socks. Now standing naked in the bathroom, she turned the taps on the shower. Resting her hands on the basin, she briefly scrutinised her appearance in the mirror as she waited for the temperature to reach a desired level.

As steam started to rise, she stepped into the shower, murmuring appreciatively as the water hit her skin, relaxing tired muscles. Turning around under the water several times to allow the water to flow over her body, facing the shower wall to allow the warmth to embrace her. Closing her eyes she immersed her head under the stream, allowing the water to cascade down her curves as she ran her hands through her brown tresses untangling knots with her fingers. She rested the back of her head against the tiled wall of the shower as the water directly streamed onto her chest. As the water fell, faint rivulets ran down her cheeks, as she was alone with her thoughts, she slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor of the shower, her legs tucked up under her chin as she wrapped her arms around her knees and placed her head against them. The trickle quickly because a full torrent as the floodgates opened as she started crying, her body simply unable to hold back any further.

By the time that the hot water had started to cool Jasmine had exhausted what tears she had left to shed as well as any energy that she may have had following her shift. Standing slowly she snaked her hand up the wall and turned off the taps and reached for a towel and dried herself off. Grabbing another towel she wrapped it around her body and exited the bathroom. She walked to her bedroom almost entirely on instinct and fell onto her double bed, exhaustion finally taking her to blissful slumber.


End file.
